The Arkansaw traveler., 1887-10-29
WHIPPED BY HIS BRETHREN.
Pr,mrose c Magazine.

Many were the sights witnessed in and out of the palace of Mandalay 1; but nothing struck me so much as the number of trained elephants, lately belonging to the deposed monarch, and the splendid quarters in which they were located, and my surprise was still more increased when l was introduced to and entered into conver- sation with the gentleman who pre- sides over this extensive establish ment. He turned out to be real na- tive of the isle of Wight. The white or mouse -colcred elephant was there, of course; but "how are the mighty fallen" He was no longer in mag nitieent pavilion, alone in his grand eur, surrounded by many servitors of the kings; on the contrary, he was in a stall like the rest of the beasts, and have done with elephants. shortly before our arrival one of these animals had greatly disgraced himself by ,re- fusing to carry & certain weight of goods which had been piled on his back. There is the regulation weight and the beasts know to an ounce what they ought to carry, and if any of the mahouts attempt to put surplus amount on his or their backs it is im- mediately shot onto the ground. The animal in question had been duly laden with a weight which was under the regulation scale; but although it had been twice weighed, as Nrs. Camp would say, before his own eyes, he still refvsed to carry it. This was too much for even his indulgent driver, so he accordingly reported, and just as we arrived he was about to be tried for his extraordinary and obstinate conduct. Several elephants were led out into large court yard, forming kind of circle round the delinquent, who seemed already to feel his posi- tion acutely, for he glanced anxiously from time to time at his mahout, who was visibly affected and who stood by his head. A karen presided presided over the court martial and read aloud the indictment against the offender. the elephants which constituted the jury apparently listening with great attention. After the statement was finished and the mahout examined. who, by the way, gave his evidence with great reluctance, the karen de cided that the case had been distinctly proved and the culprit was adjudged the punishment of twenty strokes. Upon the announcement of the yer dict, the jury marched in n most sol emn manner to q distant part of the yard, and returned with switch about as large as fair-sized scailold pole. In the meantime the mahout had been addressing the offender, who was now weeping copiously, large drops of tears falling from his eyes, and occasionally a shrill and peculiar sound issued from his capacious throat. The executioners of the law were at hand and stood about twelve to fourteen feet apart, each balancing with peculiar nicety in his trunk the aforesaid switch The culprit was led up to~she place, and as he passed num- Der one there was sound heard which resembled somewhat sharp clap of thunder; it was the first blow dcliv- cred by the dread myrmidons of the law. The blow was followed by a sharp, shrill scream, although there was evidently an attempt on the part of the culprit to suppress any exhibi- tion of pain. This punishment con- tinued until the whole of the sentence had been carried out. l felt consider able sympathy with the unfortunate delinquent. I was at the same time intensely amused with the thorough business like air with which these ministers of justice carried out the sentence. There were no light blows delivered, but as matter of fact each elephant determined to administer heavier amount of punishment than his neighbor, and the sly twinkle in the eye as the blow was delivered was a sight to sec.